As unconventional oil and natural gas production continues to expand, companies throughout the country are looking to import Oklahoma's energy expertise.

Horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, water disposal and many of the other complex and more controversial oil and natural gas activities have been used in one form or another in Oklahoma and Texas for decades.

Other states are now trying to develop that knowledge.

The demand has been strong enough to lead United Airlines to begin offering new nonstop flights between Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport and Cleveland, Ohio's, Hopkins International Airport. The new route is scheduled to begin on Valentine's Day.

United's managing director Jim Ferea in September said the new connection is in response to Oklahoma energy companies' interest in Ohio's Utica Shale.

The airline made a similar announcement Wednesday when it said it will create a new nonstop route between Houston and Rapid City, N.D., linking the Bakken field and the energy core.

The pull also has drawn some Oklahomans to lend their knowledge and experience more directly.

Longtime Enid resident Don Fischbach last year moved to Cleveland to become chairman of the energy and natural resources department at the Calfee, Halter and Griswold law firm, where he specializes in oil and gas law for the Utica Shale.

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Adam Wilmoth returned to The Oklahoman as energy editor in 2012 after working for four years in public relations. He previously spent seven years as a business reporter at The Oklahoman, including five years covering the state's energy sector....